Tabasco can't get U.S. help
By MIGUEL TIMOSHENKOV, LAREDO MORNING TIMES
11/25/2007
Email to a friendPost a CommentPrinter-friendlyNUEVO LAREDO - A tractor-trailer packed with donated clothing for families in Tabasco, which suffered devastating floods in late October, has been stuck on the Texas-Mexico border for nearly two weeks, blocked by Mexican authorities from continuing its southward trek.Two other trailers filled with food were finally released last week, after local human rights advocates demanded action.

"They (Mexican Customs officials) claim to be enforcing laws but they are interpreting them contrary to the needs of the people who are suffering," said Nuevo Laredo attorney Sergio Chavira, a civic activist who's been working to get the goods to Tabasco. "That is immoral."

Chavira said Mexican Customs is working against the wishes of President Felipe Calderón, who asked the international community to help the Tabasco victims.

It was Chavira and Raymundo Ramos, of the border Human Rights office in Nuevo Laredo, who persuaded officials to allow the food to go through, but as of Friday they still hadn't been able to get the same permission for the clothing.

Javier Mandala Heyser, who's in charge of the Customs office here, has not been available for comment; all inquiries are directed to the Mexican Department of the Treasury and the national Customs office in Mexico City. Officials there have not returned several phone calls.

Local officials have indicated that allowing the trucks to pass would violate federal law, but it's unclear exactly what law. While there are federal importation limits on used clothing and other goods, they are lifted when it comes to humanitarian aid that is donated during times of crisis, such as natural disasters.

The food and clothing was donated in predominantly Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago and Houston; many immigrant communities in those cities sponsored food and clothing drives to get help to their countrymen.

Mexican Sen. Rosalinda López Hernández, representing the state of Tabasco, condemned the refusal to allow the truck to proceed and has filed a formal complaint.

"I cannot believe that these indecent and irresponsible officials are allowed to do this when it deals with humanitarian aid for my people," the senator said in Mexico City. "The assistance that is being sent by the immigrants has an incalculable value."

The waters are finally receding in Tabasco, where nearly 1 million homes were underwater as a result of several days of pounding rain that caused three rivers to overrun their banks. Displaced people have been returning to their neighborhoods to see if anything can be salvaged, but many homes are still flooded.

According to The Associated Press, the National Water Commission said 30.5 inches of rain fell in October in Tabasco, with 12 inches falling Oct. 28-30. The average for October is just 15 inches.

Last Thursday, the AP reported that a $190 million levee project in Tabasco started in 2003 and scheduled to be done in 2006 was never finished. The project included 110 miles of levees and 120 miles of drainage canals along the three rivers that flowed out of their banks. It was approved after a 1999 flooding disaster in the area left tens of thousands homeless.

AP reported that it was unclear what had happened to all the money set aside for the levees project. State officials said the federal government, which was supposed to fund 70 percent of it, hadn't delivered all the money. Federal officials responsible for allocating the funds left office last year, and there was no immediate response to the state's claim.

(To reach Miguel Timoshenkov, call 728-2583 or e-mail timo1@lmtonline.com)

©Laredo Morning Times 2007
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